Is an egg always just an egg

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Is an egg always just an egg?
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Is a yolk always just a yolk?
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When an egg is not just an egg, what then, can an
egg be?
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It can be a Fabergé egg.
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And you ask Just what is a Fabergé egg?
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Please meet the Fabergé clutch (a nest of
eggs)...
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Soif an egg is not always an egg, and a yolk,
therefore, is not always a yolk, then what can a
yolk be?
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A multitude of wonderful surprises, like
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So, who was Fabergé?
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Born Peter Carl Fabergé in 1846, he would become
the most famous goldsmith of his time. He was the
son of jeweler Gustav Fabergé, owner of a small
silver and jewelry shop in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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Carl took over his fathers jewelry firm in 1872
at the age of twenty-four.
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Young Fabergé was determined to distinguish the
family name. Jewelry, and the decorative arts of
the day, were valued by the size and weight of
the precious stones and metal.
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In a departure from such gaudy (lacking in good
taste) ostentation (showy), and with the help of
his brother, Fabergé eagerly formulated a new
aesthetic (sensitive to art and beauty), which he
hoped would capture the fancy of the Russian
aristocracy.
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Fabergé felt the new aesthetic should reflect
creativity and craftsmanship rather than
carat-content (the weight of a gem stone) that
currently dictated the appreciation of a piece.
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Fabergé threw into the aesthetic mix a wonderful
sense of humor, a delicacy of design, an eye for
absolute detail and a sense of history.
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His pieces, did indeed, catch the eyes of the
Czar Alexander III, who admired the eggs and
considered them examples of Russian genius.
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Ironically, the man who conceived of, and hand
delivered these incredible pieces, had little to
do with their fabrication (the construction or
manufacture of). He had the best designers,
goldsmiths, jewelers, stonecutters, and
miniaturists (one who works in a tiny scale)
working for him.
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When Fabergé personally delivered the finished
works of art, they were placed inside these
beautiful Fabergé boxes.
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At the height of his success, Fabergé had over
five hundred employees,four shops in Russia, one
shop in London, and a catalogue operation. He
provided the taste, the direction, and the genius
that motivated and coordinated all the artists
and artisans that had to work in unison.
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Fabergé refused to be limited by nineteenth
century (1800s) goldsmith techniques. If methods
did not exist to execute his designs, he required
his craftsmen to invent it.
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Fabergé used an incredibly complicated enameling
(a glassy opaque colored substance fused to a
surface) technique, a technique that cannot be
duplicated even today. The House of Fabergé
actually buried their own documents and his
formulas and techniques have been lost.
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Fabergé's competitors used standard colors of
pale blues, white and pinks. He experimented and
created yellows, mauves, salmon, and all shades
of greenover one hundred and forty new colors.
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Everything Fabergé produced was one-of-a-kind,
guaranteed. Anything that was unsold at the end
of the year, was destroyed. He never repeated
himself. Imagine, producing over 150,000
different objects without ever repeating yourself!
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In 1885, Alexander III commissioned Fabergé to
make an egg for his wife to celebrate their
twentieth wedding anniversary, which fell during
the Russian Orthodox celebration of Easter.
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Alexander III was a bear of a man, and he
governed with an iron will for thirteen years. He
died at the young age of 49. As Czar (a Russian
emperor), he was determined to preserve the power
of the monarchy in the face of uprisings and
appeals for social reform.
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This is the first egg made by Fabergé for
Alexanders wife, Maria.
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Fabergé was given carte blanche(no restrictions
of any kind) in creating the next Imperial
Eggsthe only requirement beingeach egg must be
unique and each egg must contain a surprise!
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The process of making an egg usually took one
year. First came the planning period meticulous
and detailed plans were set in place, then
exacting sketches and models were made. Next,
discussions among the goldsmiths, silversmiths,
enamellers, jewelers, lapidary (one who cuts and
polishes precious stones) workers and
stonecutters who were to contribute to the
production were held. Finally, different jobs
were farmed out to the various Fabergé workshops.
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After Alexanders untimely death in 1894, his
son, Nicholas II assumed the throne.
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Nicholas was quiet and very gentle in his manner.
He had led a very sheltered life and neither
enjoyed politics or understood them.
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Nicholas continued his fathers tradition.
However, Nicholas would order two eggs from
Fabergé.one for his mother and one for his wife.
Each egg depicted a different event, or theme, in
Russian history. Every egg still contained a
nested surprise.
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When the Czar and Czarina traveled, they traveled
with suitcases full of Fabergé pieces, which were
presented here and there to thank people.
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Civil unrest was rampant in Russia. After three
centuries, the Romanov imperial dynasty ended. In
1917 the Russians revolted against the monarchy.
Czar Nicholas and his family were murdered.
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The outbreak of the revolution, amidst famine and
riots, and the subsequent massacre of the royal
family, ended production of the Imperial Easter
Eggs and The House of Fabergé. Fabergés shop was
destroyed, his employees pulled into war, and
Fabergé went into hiding, fearing for his life.
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Fabergé lived out the remainder of his life in
Switzerland.
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Fifty-six imperial eggs were made in all. During
the revolutionary fervor, the royal palace was
plundered and the Bolsheviks (rioting peasants)
packed up the Fabergé eggs or sold them abroad.
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During this chaotic period, many of the eggs (or
their surprise contents) were lost.
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Nine Fabergé eggs were just bought by a Russian
businessman, and industrialist, from the American
billionaire, Malcolm Forbes estate, for 90
million dollars. They will be returned to Russia.
Only the Kremlin (government offices of the
Soviet Union) has more Fabergé eggs in its
collectionten total.
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Priceless masterpieces, opulent symbols of
Easter, or fancy, useless trinkets?The imperial
eggs were different things to different people.
To collectors, they are precious, rare, and
highly prized. To the common folk, they were
reminders of Imperial excess. To the Russian
royal family, they were commemoration of Easter
and an important family tradition.
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Do you want to learn more? Check out a book
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Faberge presentation by Nanette
GabrielMemorial Drive Elementary SchoolCultural
Arts RussiaHouston, TexasMarch 13, 2009
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BibliographyChronowski, Barbara.
Faberge The Imperial Eggs. Federal Republic of
Germany Prestel-Verlag, 1989.